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Optimizing non-natural protein function with directed evolution.

ABSTRACT: Developing technologies such as unnatural amino acid mutagenesis, non-natural cofactor engineering, and computational design are generating proteins with novel functions; these proteins, however, often do not reach performance targets and would benefit from further optimization. Evolutionary methods can complement these approaches: recent work combining unnatural amino acid mutagenesis and phage selection has created useful proteins of novel composition. Weak initial activity in a computationally designed enzyme has been improved by iterative rounds of mutagenesis and screening. A marriage of ingenuity and evolution will expand the scope of protein function well beyond Mother Nature's designs.

SUBMITTER: Brustad EM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3080047 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Optimizing non-natural protein function with directed evolution.

Brustad Eric M EM Arnold Frances H FH

Current opinion in chemical biology 20101223 2

Developing technologies such as unnatural amino acid mutagenesis, non-natural cofactor engineering, and computational design are generating proteins with novel functions; these proteins, however, often do not reach performance targets and would benefit from further optimization. Evolutionary methods can complement these approaches: recent work combining unnatural amino acid mutagenesis and phage selection has created useful proteins of novel composition. Weak initial activity in a computationall ...[more]

PMID: 21185770

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